Pages

Thursday, June 01, 2006

June Blog Exchange

Okay everyone on their best behavior. We have a guest. I would like to welcome Mel from MamaMamaMaternity . And guess what!? I am a guest over at her blog! Enjoy!

What’s In a Name?

I have been called many names in my life…ahem…I meant Mel, Mom, Mrs. Lastname. You know. A name is such an important part of your identity. It is how people distinguish you from the person next to you in conversation. Life would be very confusing if we all responded to “HEY YOU.”

Because a name is so vitally important, I am constantly amazed at the people who name their kids like complete morons. I have mentioned before that my daughter has an Atom at her preschool. Atom, like the particle of matter. Unless one of his parents is a nuclear physicist – what the?

Then there is the unfortunate soul I went to school with, who had the initials PMS. Really, were her parents so set on the name they gave her that they couldn’t think that one through?

And people want so much for their baby’s name to be unique they go the route of spelling things backward. Everyone is familiar with Nevaeh, which is heaven backwards. I think as a name, it is pretty enough. My cousin named his daughter Nevaeh. But when does it end? How about Iiawah? I hear it’s beautiful there.I won’t even go into the lame things celebrities choose to name their kids. It is too easy…and overdone.

The trend of naming your child something that you love or value seems like a good idea, but then you end up with kids named Lexus, Diamond, and Armani. That means my next baby should be Chocolate or maybe Fullnightsleep. That last one doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.

And finally, and arguably the most annoying trend in names, is the Hooked on Phonics school of naming. That means someone takes a more common – read normal – name and completely jacks up it’s spelling, presumably to make it unique, or should I say, Uneek, to their child. That is how you end up with the rubbish pile of names like Genofur, Teighlor, Kortny, Mikuhl, and Alyxx. If they are extra special, they get an apostrophe - A'reyanna, Aim’mee, or Stu’Pid.

Just consider this a public service announcement of sorts. A handy guide on how to name you child something they can be proud of. I don’t claim to be a naming expert, but I do have a pretty good handle on what will and will not get the your little angel relentlessly tortured for the 12 plus years they are in school. Just ask my daughter, Placenta Mar’ee.

Mel is a mom of two kids with very lovely names. Her full name, however, features a jacked up spelling, but her parents are to blame. She is usually found at www.MamaMamaMaternity.blogspot.com. Where she talks about herself in the third person and rarely updates.

This post is part of a June Blog Exchange on the theme "What's in a Name?" For more click here here here here And, if you'd like to participate, email Kristen at kmei26 at yahoo.com.